Robert T. Jarboe, who served two terms as a St. Mary’s County commissioner, died Sunday, police report, when he was run over by his farm tractor and was found lying underneath the machinery at his property off Route 244 near Callaway.

Jarboe, 79, either inadvertently placed the tractor in gear while climbing off it, or fell off the tractor while it was in gear, according to St. Mary’s detectives. Jarboe fell behind the tractor, investigators report, and was struck.

St. Mary’s 911 dispatchers sent emergency crews to the scene at Pear Hill Road at 11:29 a.m. Sunday, online dispatch reports state, and detectives report that police also responded to the farm. Jarboe’s body was taken to the state medical examiner’s office in Baltimore for an autopsy.

Jarboe (D) was elected to the board of commissioners in 1986 in the aftermath of a widespread political corruption investigation, and was defeated eight years later in his bid for a third term, amid a nationwide Republican surge. Jarboe was a past president and current member of the St. Mary’s County Farm Bureau.